From Another Point of View
by SageK
Summary: What does Joe Evans think of the V's?


They said times of hardship were when a man could find the true measure of his metal. Joe Evans liked to believe he was a brave person, one who would stand up for his family and his beliefs, but he was also lived in America. He had a decent job. What the heck was there for him to rebel against? He'd never felt the need or desire to imagine becoming involved in any sort of resistance movement.

Sure, maybe some people would consider him a little boring, but he was happy.

Then the aliens came. At first, he had no real issue with them, but then things started getting strange. The sky turned red, the news started reporting on strange disappearances, his ex-wife, an FBI agent, was clearly uncomfortable with the V's, even though Tyler was living on one of the ships…but still, whatever was going on didn't really seem to effect him too much.

Until a few days ago, when Tyler had shown up at his door, worried that Anna, the V leader, would try to come after him. Joe had been dumbfounded, but Tyler had been insistent and even got his mother on the phone to back him up when he told Joe to pack a bag, they had to go.

He had gone with Tyler into the city and discovered there was far more going on than he had known. Apparently, there was a growing movement that was aware of the V's true, malicious intentions for humanity and they were banding together to stop it. Some V's had even joined this rebel movement, called The Fifth Colum, which the talking heads on the news continued to call a terrorist organization.

But Joe learned different. Erica had explained what she could before heading off to work to keep her cover. It all seemed so fantastic and out of his comfort zone, so Joe chose to hang back and observe the more practiced rebels at work.

The building The Fifth Colum was headquartered in was abandoned and rundown, quite unremarkable on the outside. It was large and had many smaller rooms, which were being used as sleeping quarters, and a large space, perhaps a factory floor, had been converted into the main room, with a meeting/planning space (usually co-opted by a few select members of the movement, Erica included), small medical area and even a few couches.

It was like some strange, post-apocalyptic sanctuary for survivors of a great disaster…which would be an accurate analogy, except for the fact the majority of the Earth's population had no idea an apocalypse had begun.

Okay, no more watching alien invasion movies on the tv. Everyone else seemed to find them ironic. He only watched because he was going stir crazy.

Most of the people that wandered in and out of the building kept to themselves and the others, like Joe, who were staying there for protection were generally shell shocked and twitchy. It was hard to get to know anyone in that atmosphere, but he hoped to talk with Ty and Erica later that night, cause he was getting antsy after a few days. He wanted something to do. He could help.

Tyler and his girlfriend, Lisa, who was a V herself, were in and out of the HQ, themselves busy trying to spy on Anna and discretely pass along disinformation. When Joe had last seen the pair of them, they had been very cozy, but there seemed to be something of a rift in their relationship now. Ty said it was nothing, but Joe knew better.

Joshua, a pleasant young man, was the only V who spent all his time with the resistance, as he was persona non grata among his own kind since his rebel allegiance had become common knowledge. He was a doctor and seemed to come in handy when people stumbled in, injured in scuffles with V soldiers. More than anyone, he seemed willing to patiently explain the day to day workings of their odd little group. Because he spent time in Joshua's company, Joe noticed Lisa lingering by the medic.

But since Tyler didn't seem to mind, Joe thought maybe it was because they were the only V's in HQ and they seemed to share some history. At least they were friendly, in an odd, slightly stiff way.

Someone not so friendly was Kyle Hobbes, an honest to God terrorist, was another fixture in the dingy building the Fifth Column based itself out of. That had been a shock, but Erica had assured him that the man was on their side and they needed his expertise. Joe wondered exactly what he was getting himself into, when a terrorist became essential personnel.

It was early evening when a new arrival appeared. Someone new to Joe that is, 'cause several other people looked up and greeted the man, who paused to speak with each of them. In jeans and a white button down shirt, quick to offer anyone a gentle smile, the blond man seemed to be Hobbes's opposite, but he approached the terrorist with a level of comfort Joe hadn't seen anyone but Erica express.

Hobbes actually smiled a little as he asked the man, "Where have you been?"

The blond man touched his arm. "I was giving this place a bit of a wide berth until I was sure the R6 wouldn't be working anymore."

Nodding over to where Joshua was bandaging a woman's hand, Hobbes said, "Thought he said it only took 24 hours."

"Just being safe, plus I was visiting my niece. I'm going to bring her by tomorrow," the blond said. "I filled her in on some of the truth and she looked at me like I was a rube. She actually said, 'Duh, Uncle Jack. I grew up watching the X-Files. Trust No One, remember.'"

Hobbes actually snorted. "Smart girl. You sure you're related to her?"

Jack shot him a vaguely amused look. "Nice. So, what's new here?"

As the terrorist led Jack over to his territory, marked with plans and boards covered with papers, Joe snagged Joshua's arm as the younger man passed by, Joe nodded towards the new arrival and asked, "Who's that?"

The doctor glanced over and replied. "Jack."

Okay, so the V's weren't the chattiest people ever. "I've never seen him here before."

"He and Erica are the two senior, surviving human members of this branch of the Fifth Column," Joshua followed up, then continued off on his way.

That little tidbit of information did nothing to ease Joe's nerves over the whole résistance fighting thing.

While Joe mulled the thought over, Erica entered through the same door Jack had. Her eyes scanned the room quickly but stopped when they hit the blond man. The smile that crossed her face was one Joe recognized from the happier times of their relationship.

"Hey." He heard her voice carry across the room as she crossed to Jack and Hobbes, hand lighting on Jack's arm when she reached them. Whatever else they said was spoken in voices too low for Joe to hear, but he could see the glances between the two of them and the easy way they invaded each others space.

Though they hadn't parted on the best of terms, Joe didn't begrudge his ex-wife finding someone. Hell, with all this craziness, it was probably good to have someone to share…everything with.

Over by the planning station, Hobbes was laughing about something while both blondes were looking vaguely put out. The terrorist rolled his eyes in a way that was visible from across the room and turned back towards the small screen that constantly streamed a news station.

Erica shook her head, dim light catching her hair as she turned to speak with Jack. Standing there together, Joe was struck by the way they moved together, the private smiles and the small touches. Everything was chaste and innocent, but there was an underlying…connection between them.

She smiled when she caught Joe's eye, a normal, friendly smile, not the one Jack had received. When he waved, she led the way over and asked, "How are you doing, Joe?"

He gave her a look. "I'd be better if I had something to do."

"We'll try to find something for you to do," she assured him, then said, "Joe, this is Jack Landry. Jack, Joe Evans."

"Nice to meet you." To Jack's credit, he seemed to mean that and smiled as they shook hands.

"Likewise," Joe replied, then dug around for something to say. He'd never been great at small talk. "So, do you two work together?"

Erica smiled and looked down while Jack simply shook his head. "No, no, I'm a priest."

Huh.

That was…unexpected.

But Joe gave himself a mental shake. After all, he was pretty sure some priests could marry. Maybe he was one of those. Otherwise, whatever Erica and Jack had between them way far more complicated than he'd even begin to ponder.

"How'd you get involved in all of this?"

It was a fair question, one that caused the two blonds to exchange a look. "That's a long story."

"I've got time," Joe said and he really did. The story of how his ex and a priest fell in together and possibly fell for each other was just one he had to hear.


End file.
